New Census numbers show Lone Star state rapid rise
The U.S. Census Bureau just reported that the Austin-Round Rock was the second-fastest growing metropolitan statistical area (MSA)* between 2007 and 2008. Its population jumped 3.8%, only outgrown by Raleigh, NC, which climbed 4.3%.
Overall Texas saw meteoric increases. (Top 100 fastest-growing MSA chart in downloadable Excel spreadsheet.) Thirteen MSAs saw increases across the state saw a total population rise of 2.3%, or 451,264 people.
The vast majority of those newcomers ended up in the Texas Triangle. In fact, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston took the #1 and #2 spot in the country for the most number of people added.
| Overall Rank by % Growth | MSA | Change ('07-'08) | % Change |
| 28 | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 146,532 | 2.4 |
| 31 | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown | 130,185 | 2.3 |
| 2 | Austin-Round Rock | 60,012 | 3.8 |
| 30 | San Antonio | 46,524 | 2.3 |
| 14 | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | 21,126 | 3 |
| 75 | El Paso | 12,093 | 1.7 |
| 37 | Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood | 8,180 | 2.2 |
| 45 | Brownsville-Harlingen | 7,831 | 2 |
| 29 | Laredo | 5,464 | 2.4 |
| 44 | College Station-Bryan | 4,226 | 2.1 |
| 72 | Tyler | 3,325 | 1.7 |
| 21 | Midland | 3,235 | 2.6 |
| 50 | Odessa | 2,531 | 2 |
On a county-by-county basis, 10 of the 25 counties with the largest total increase in population were in Texas. Furthermore, fully 19 of the 100 fastest growing counties were in Texas:
| Overall Rank by % Growth | County | Texas Triangle Metro/Micro | % Growth |
| 6 | Williamson | Austin-Round Rock | 6.0 |
| 8 | Kendall | San Antonio | 5.5 |
| 9 | Rockwall | n/a | 5.3 |
| 10 | Hays | Austin-Round Rock | 5.3 |
| 14 | Fort Bend | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown | 4.8 |
| 19 | Comal | San Antonio | 4.7 |
| 21 | Montgomery | Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown | 4.5 |
| 24 | Guadalupe | n/a | 4.3 |
| 27 | Collin | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 4.3 |
| 29 | Kaufman | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 4.2 |
| 37 | Andrews | n/a | 4.0 |
| 43 | Denton | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 3.7 |
| 47 | Ellis | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 3.6 |
| 48 | Ward | n/a | 3.6 |
| 76 | Wilson | San Antonio | 3.2 |
| 79 | Hood | Somerville + Granbury | 3.1 |
| 85 | Parker | n/a | 3.1 |
| 95 | Hidalgo | Athens | 3.0 |
| 100 | Travis | Austin-Round Rock | 3.0 |
That means the Texas Triangle accounted for 87.6% of the entire state's population growth. DFW and Houston were nearly neck-and-neck, but the Metroplex edged out the Bayou City by attracting 32.5% of new Texans.
| MSA | Share of New Texans |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | 32.47% |
| Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown | 28.85% |
| Austin-Round Rock | 13.30% |
| San Antonio | 10.31% |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | 4.68% |
| El Paso | 2.68% |
| Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood | 1.81% |
| Brownsville-Harlingen | 1.74% |
| Laredo | 1.21% |
| College Station-Bryan | 0.94% |
| Tyler | 0.74% |
| Midland | 0.72% |
| Odessa | 0.56% |
Although it's great to be the state everybody loves, Texans already here are beginning to question the effects of so many more people will have on their way of life. .:.
![U.S. Megas [America2050.org]](http://www.america2050.org//sync/elements/america2050map.png){kind=link}
2 Comments:
The growth could be concerning as you are saying. I believe that the current US financial crisis could cause more growth in the triangular area of Texas because of jobs. Also, baby boomers (now with less wealth) that were going to California or Florida, may look at Texas because of the lower cost of living. I think Texas population growth could end up much higher than what the Texas A&M demographers are predicting.
David,
I think you're correct on that. I'm not familiar with the Aggie forecast, but I know that these projections are subject to change. Likewise, the Texas Triangle may only be 23% of Texas, but it's a huge amount of land. I-35 is built up extensively between San Antonio and DFW, but I-45 and I-10 are not. Consider I-95 between Boston and DC for a forecast. Something like two-thirds of the Eastern seaboard lives within 50 miles (east and west) of that major artery.
An excellent source on this topic I've been watching for years is Dr. Robert Lang at the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech(www.mi.vt.edu), he was one of the earliest proponents for megapolitan areas.
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